


Return to Hawkins

by ChunkMonk



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: 80's typical views of sexuality, Bisexuality, Coming Out, Gay, M/M, Returning To Hawkins, Reunion, Romance, being a teenager is complicated, bye bye bowl cut, general spoilers for season three, mike misses his friends, somewhat canon compliant, will living his best life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-23 14:34:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19703347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChunkMonk/pseuds/ChunkMonk
Summary: It's been a year since Mike Wheeler has seen his girlfriend and best friend after they've moved away. When they finally come for a visit, he finds some things have changed in surprising ways. Some feelings have changed as well.





	Return to Hawkins

**Author's Note:**

> This is pure schmoop. I apologize for nothing, especially since the Duffers will probably give us Mike/Will fans nothing in the end lol. Gotta fix that shit with fic my friends! Any mistakes, typos or weirdness is entirely my fault. I wrote this fast and had no beta.

The gang was going to go up to Indianapolis during the winter break, but with several different schedules to coordinate, Dustin getting accepted to attend some prestigious science thing that would eat up most of his available time, and an unexpected severe case of tonsillitis for Holly that required an emergency tonsillectomy, it was a bad time for everyone. Lucas wasn’t allowed to go alone, and Max wasn’t even allowed to go in the first place (“I don’t understand why these friends of yours can’t come visit you!” Her piece of shit stepfather had screamed so loud it could be heard two counties over), so their plans were pushed back till spring vacation. 

And then when THAT didn’t work out, it was pushed back even further....so far that before Mike had realized it, the school year was over and he had spent his entire freshman year of high school not seeing his girlfriend or best friend in the flesh. Which was just unacceptable.

Sure he had spoken to El on the phone as much as they could, but it was different. Nancy was having a hard time too with her own long distance relationship—first with the big move and then with both of them moving even farther away for their respective colleges—and she was older. More experienced in matters of the heart.

She could also drive to see Jonathan at least.

Mike didn’t have such luxuries, and it seemed like the universe had been conspiring against him. All he wanted to do was hug and kiss his girlfriend and hang out with his best buddy. Was that too much to ask? 

Apparently. 

And so by the first full week of summer vacation, Mike was ready to bug the crap out of his parents; get them to take the gang (or just him at the very least) for a visit, or in a last ditch scenario, force Nancy to drive them all. Mike knew all of her dirty secrets. Things she did not want their parents to know, and he was desperate. Blackmail sounded like a decent option. Fortunately for his sake, he didn’t have to exercise either option.

“Oh honey,” his Mom said as she packaged up the leftovers from dinner into orange Tupperware containers. “Joyce Byers called last week. I completely forgot to tell you.”

“What?” Mike perked up from where he had been slumped at the table, poking the remnants of his meatloaf with his fork. His Dad was picking at his teeth with the point of his steak knife and Mike grimaced as he watched the display while Holly just giggled.

“What’s up? Is everything ok?”

His Mom waved him off. “Oh yea, yea. Everything’s great. But she wanted me to tell you she’s coming back to visit in two weeks. Gonna bring Jane and Will of course and they will be here for a few days…”

The rest of whatever his Mom said instantly faded into background noise as Mike shot out of his seat like a canon and up the stairs to give El a call. He vaguely registered his Mom yelling something about “not getting out of doing the dishes young man” but he was too buzzed to care.

With his whole body vibrating with excitement he slammed his finger into the touchpad and dialed El’s number.

A voice, just as breathless as his was, answered on the first ring.

“Mike! I’m coming to see you! I’m coming home!” El exclaimed, no hello, no nothing—like she just knew who would be calling.

“I know! I’m so excited!! My mom just told me!!”

Home. 

Mike liked the sound of that. Home is where El and Will should always be.

*************  
Mike had been pacing in front of the front door for what seemed like ages. His mom had given up an hour ago on telling him to “calm down” and how he was just gonna scuff the floor and she’d just waxed it. His dad had just mumbled something unintelligible from behind his newspaper as Holly entertained herself with Saturday morning cartoons. Today was the day. Today was the first day he’d get to see El and Will in a god damn year.

It was insane. If he let himself think about how much he had missed, and they had missed, he would make himself sick over it, so he tried to focus on the joy of getting to see them again and all the new memories they would make.

Besides, his next birthday he would be taking drivers ed and then he’d get his license and then a shitty used car and viola! He would drive up to see them as much as he could. 

Easy peasy. 

The doorbell ringing was like someone had sent a shockwave through his entire system. He froze, his heart sped up, he ran hot and then cold, and he had no idea what to do with his body. Mike had built this moment up so much in his mind that it felt surreal.

Like winning the lottery. No, like the first time he’d seen the demigorgon. 

But in a good way. 

His mother gave him an odd look as she brushed past him to open the door when it was clear Mike was frozen to the spot, and the sounds of El and Will’s voices mingling together jerked him back to reality.

“Oh my gosh you two have grown so much! And look at you! Oh my! Well you have definitely grown up! So handsome.”

“Thanks Mrs Wheeler. It’s so nice to see you!”

“Hello, Mike’s Mom.”

“Oh dear come here give me a hug. Both of you. Oh it’s been too long!”

Mike heard three people shuffling around behind the door, going in for a big hug, and he grabbed onto the door handle and flung it wide open.

It landed with a loud bang into the wall behind it and he heard his dad yell “Watch it! Repairs cost money son!” 

“Mike!” El shouted, dropping her duffel bag on to the floor, and barreled into his open arms, a blur of plaid and long brown hair. His Mom awkwardly shuffled away as El wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face into his chest, breathing deep. Mike just held her there, close, and tried hard not to cry. Nothing was better than being with the people you care about. Nothing. They had so much to catch up on, so much to do.....so much kissing to make up for!

He wasn’t sure how long they’d been hugging when Mike heard a soft noise—someone clearing their throat—and shit! Will! Fuck, after all their issues last year, he didn’t want Will to feel ignored again. That was not the way to welcome home his best friend. 

Mike opened his eyes to give Will his biggest, best Wheeler smile and......it slid completely off his face. Because the other person who was standing in their foyer was not his best friend. It was not Will Byers. Oh this wasn’t Will Byers at all.

What the hell?

*****************

Ok so the person in front of him WAS Will Byers, but like a Will Byers from another dimension. A parallel universe…. like the Twilight Zone. I mean, after all the upside down shit, people’s bodies literally being snatched, anything was possible right? 

“Will?” Mike asked, fully aware of how silly he sounded, but he couldn’t help it. The person standing in front of him absolutely, positively could not be the kid he’d known since kindergarten. 

The Will Byers that had left Hawkins was wearing a hand me down striped shirt a size too small and some out of fashion chords from Goodwill. The Will Byers that left had his trademark bowl cut and a face with a little bit of baby fat left. 

”Yea, hi!” Will said, placing his backpack gently on the ground. “It so wild to be back! Everything looks exactly the same!”

“Not everything…” Mike thought, hoping to God he hadn’t said that out loud. His brain was having a hard time reconciling the voice of Will coming out of the body of this imposter.

An imposter who was wearing acid washed jeans, a faded INXS tee shirt with the sleeves ripped off and Doc Martens. An imposter who definitely had no baby fat left, and was long and lean, and…..had no bowl cut. The curtain of hair was gone. In its place was a cut he’d never seen anyone in Hawkins have. Shaved close on the sides, long and messy on the top. 

And was that…..a blue stripe peeking out? Jesus. 

“You look….” Mike caught the glint of a rainbow pin attached to his front jeans pocket and felt a bit woozy. This was too much at once. “.....different.”

Will let out a laugh and pulled him away from El and into a giant hug. “Haha yea you got me there. I wondered if you’d noticed.”

I would have to be blind not to notice that, Mike thought as he returned the hug, and soon all the years of hugs shared between them, both in good times and bad, came flooding back and he sunk into his arms. It was as if no time had passed and he gripped on to his shirt tight. His stupid, t shirt for a band he hadn’t even heard of before.

They hugged and hugged until he heard Will make a sort of contented noise that sounded almost like a moan and suddenly Mike needed some distance. 

“Ah yea, well you did surprise me a bit.” Mike said, patting Will on the back in the awkward way people did when they wanted the hug to end. 

“Yea I guess it’s a lot of change all at once. Keep forgetting we haven’t seen each other in a year. A lot has changed.” Will shrugged and smiled, and for the first time Mike was able to truly take in his whole face. 

His high forehead, his eyebrows, his eyes, which sparkled mischievously, and the manly jaw he most certainly did not have a year ago. 

Will Byers had grown up. Will Byers had changed. Not just style wise, which was something else, but…..there was a whole different vibe to him that Mike couldn’t explain. A type of confidence he lacked before. He radiated happiness. Contentment

And while Will had always been a cute kid, the guy in front of him was downright handsome. 

The thought made Mike’s skin hot and prickly in a way he didn’t want to examine too closely. Instead he grabbed El’s hand and lead them down the hallway. 

“Come on guys, grab your stuff and let’s go crash in the basement. We have a lot of catching up to do!”

******************

The three of them took over the basement, talking over each other and laughing, excited to be together again and slipping naturally back into their usual friend roles. Mike and El cuddled together on the couch as he filled them in on all the things they had missed since they’d left. How high school was fun but a lot harder than he’d expected, and how Lucas made the basketball team and Steve was taking some classes at the community college and him and Robin sometimes snuck them free movies from the rental place. 

El kept looking at him softly, not saying much, just letting Mike go on and on and on, and Will lost his mind when Mike told them the story of Dustin’s girlfriend coming to visit and how her parents caught them making out and caused a scene. 

Eventually Will and El started talking about how things were for them. Mike desperately wanted to barrel into the whole “what’s up with your new look?” conversation but figured he’d have time to get to that later. 

High school was “ok” per Will, which he didn’t elaborate on which only piqued Mike’s interest further, and El was taking special classes to catch up with her peers, and she was doing really well in them. She’d made a few friends, and even though Joyce was just as protective as Hopper had been, she kept a looser reign on her, allowing her to have a normal social life. 

When Hopper’s name came up, El got a faraway look in her eyes and her lower lip trembled, but said nothing. Mike made sure to move on from that topic as quickly as possible. 

After a few hours of catching up, listening to some records, watching bad TV and reminiscing over anything and everything, Mrs Wheeler came down with a pizza and a few cans of Coke. 

“You father and I have that thing tonight, remember Michael?” She said, spreading the food out on the table. Mike did not remember and he just shrugged. “So we will be gone most of the evening. I got you guys a pizza, and if you’re still hungry there is a casserole in the fridge and ice cream in the freezer for later.” 

She came over to the couch, bent down and ruffled Mike’s hair and gave him a kiss on the top of his head. “You guys have a good night ok? It’s so nice to see you all together again.”

When his parents left later that night, the music got louder, and a few of the wine coolers from the fridge made their way into their hands. While Will was busy flipping through the Wheeler’s VHS collection, trying to decide on a film to watch, Mike and El finally had a little private time to reconnect. 

“I missed you.” Mike smiled, leaning closer to give her a kiss, but El leaned back suddenly. She placed her hands on his chest, stopping him, but she was smiling.

“I missed you too Mike.” She said, and patted him gently before turning away. 

It felt like a slap to the face, and Mike was confused. They were a couple right? He thought they were. I mean she’d said she’d loved him before she left so…...and then there were all the phone calls and the “I miss you’s” whispered into the phone late at night, long after they were supposed to be in bed. Was he wrong all this time and they were just friends? It had felt as if they were a couple, but maybe they’d never actually gotten back together like he’d thought?

Leave it to Mike Wheeler to think he was dating someone he wasn’t.

“Uhh,” Mike scratched at the back of his head. “El are we...umm….I mean…..ahhh….”

“What is it Mike?” 

“This is gonna sound pretty stupid but umm, we are a couple right? Boyfriend and girlfriend?”

El blinked. Two brown eyes bore straight into his for a few moments before her eyebrows furrowed. “We are friends.” She shrugged and looked confused. “Best friends.”

Mike squirmed in his seat. “Just friends? But I thought, we were dating.”

“But I live in Indianapolis and you live here?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Mike’s cheeks started to burn, and had to work hard to keep himself from snapping like he was prone to do when frustrated. 

“How can I date someone who doesn’t live by me? How can I see them or kiss them? Doesn’t make sense Mike.” 

It was so matter of fact, and made so much sense, it was hard to fault her for it. Of course El didn’t understand the whole long distance relationship thing. Maybe it was silly of Mike to even assume she would know or even want to do it. El had a whole new life somewhere else, was meeting new people, and she hadn’t seen Mike in a year. In retrospect it was dumb as hell to think they were truly a couple. 

And he wasn’t going to ruin this visit by being a dick, so he just smiled and nodded. “That’s a good point El. Best friends sounds pretty awesome to me.”

He smiled, she smiled in return and snuggled in closer to his side, and while he expected his heart to feel like it was shattering into a million pieces, the same way it did the first time El dumped him, the feeling...never came. 

In fact he felt…..nothing. A little embarrassed, sure, but sad? Devastated? Heartbroken? Not in the slightest. 

Maybe this was for the best then. Maybe they truly were just friends and that was ok.

*******************

Later that evening, after watching a back to back movie marathon of Ghost Busters and Animal House (El being disappointed there were no actual animals in the latter), El started to drift off and Mike showed her up to Nancy’s room where she was going to sleep. Nancy was on a trip with some of her friends from college, and Mrs Wheeler had made the bed up with fresh sheets. 

“So if you’re tired too you can crash in my bed and I will just take the couch.” Mike said to Will as he came back down the basement stairs. 

“That’s dumb,” Will replied, looking up from an X Men comic book as he sprawled on the couch. At least his love of comic books hadn’t changed. “I didn’t come all this way to sleep. At least not yet. Let’s have a sleep over old school style! Right here in the basement.” 

It was hard to deny Will Byers anything, especially when he smiled at you like that, Mike thought, and the next minute he dug out a pair of sleeping bags from the closet. He found his old navy blue one from the Army Navy Surplus store and Nancy’s old one that was covered in rainbows and stars and looked like a gigantic Lisa Frank folder. 

“Here you can take the Nancy’s,” Mike said, tossing the sleeping bags and two pillows towards him, “It matches your pin…” he said without thinking, going for a joke. When there was no response, Mike turned and saw Will smiling slightly, bending down to unfurl the sleeping bag.

“Thanks. So you noticed the pin eh? Nothing gets by Mike Wheeler.”

“Hah, yeah. I didn’t know you were into rainbows.” Mike tried to keep the atmosphere light, but there was a sudden tension that now buzzed about the room. It made him feel untethered. Like they were about to wander into something they had been avoiding all day. Maybe even longer than that…. “I didn’t know you were into a lot of things, apparently.”

“Like?”

“I don’t know. Bands like INXS and blue stripes in hair and……” Mike trailed off, waving his hands instead to encompass Will’s new appearance. “Your new look is….something.”

“Something? You mean in a bad way?”

“No! No, it’s good! You look good.” Mike felt himself blush and noticed Will was blushing too. 

That was weird. He felt so weird. Why was this so god damn weird? 

Will’s eyes flicked downwards. “Thanks.”

Mike spread out his sleeping back next to Will’s, trying his best to continue the conversation without it getting more awkward. “So, uhh what happened?” He cringed. Great start. “I mean what brought about this change? Was it like when Max took El to Starcourt so she could find her own style?”

Will sat down cross legged on top of the sleeping bag and started playing with the zipper. “Yea, sort of I guess. Indianapolis is so much different than Hawkins, Mike. It’s so much bigger and there are so many different types of people. There’s all this access to arts and culture and….it’s amazing. I never felt like I fit in here, so I never wanted to stand out. I just wanted to blend in, especially after being “zombie boy.”” He rolled his eyes. “I guess I just didn’t know myself. Or more like I knew who I was but was too afraid to show it? But it’s not like that in Indianapolis.” Will looked up, smiling the biggest smile Mike had ever seen. He’d never seen his friend so radiant. It took his breath away.

“There I am allowed to be who I want. Who I am. I am not laughed at for wearing thrift store clothes. There’s it’s considered cool! There are nerds who aren’t afraid to be nerds, and artists just like the kind of artist I want to be one day. I’ve met so many amazing people Mike, and there are other kids too…” Will fondled his rainbow pin gently. “Kids who are like me in other ways…”

“Other ways?” Mike swallowed; the tension was back again, the feeling that they were about to talk about something very important. Only Mike wasn’t exactly sure what it was. Slowly he lowered himself to the ground and sat on top of his sleeping bag, facing Will. 

“Yeah.” Will wouldn’t make eye contact but his voice was clear and unwavering. “Guys who like guys. Girls who like girls….some who like both. You know,” he tapped the rainbow pin. “This is a symbol Mike.”

There was a staticky hum in Mike’s ears, like when the walkie talkies couldn’t pick up a signal. “A symbol?”

Will looked directly at him. “I’m gay Mike. I hope you won’t hate me for it, but I am gay and in Indianapolis there’s a lot more people just like me, and they helped me to realize that it’s ok. That being gay is who I am and I shouldn’t be afraid of it. Because I was Mike, I was so scared for so long. But now I’m not, because I’ve accepted who I am and… I hope you can too.”

“You’re gay?” Mike asked stupidly.

Will laughed. “Yeah Mike.”

“You like boys...in that way?”

“Yes. That’s what gay means generally.”

“Does El know?”

Will laughed even harder. “Yea. She said it was bitchin. She grew up in a lab, I mean she has no idea of how society views things like this and when I explained it to her she didn’t care. If only more people were like her.” His eyes momentarily darkened like a cloud passing over the sun. 

So Will was gay? He’s gay. If Mike was completely honest with himself, it wasn’t that big of a surprise. It was one of those things that felt like an inevitability, and he would be lying if he’d said he’d never wondered about it. Will never liked girls the way the other boys did, and there had been other signs but…. Mike never let himself go there. He didn’t want to be that guy who thought the taunts of “queer” and “fairy” and “fag” actually meant anything. Not that they meant anything now either. Shit like that was gross, even he knew that. You just didn’t treat people that way. Even people different from you.

“I could never hate you Will.” He exclaimed, needing his best friend to know how ok this all was. “I could never hate anything about you.” He leaned forward and pulled Will into a hug. Will huffed out a warm breath and it hit Mike’s neck, sending gooseflesh it’s wake and making his stomach feel funny. I could hug him forever, Mike thought, and as soon as it crossed his mind, he untangled himself from Will’s arms and scooted back. 

Will looked back at him, his cheeks flushed and hair tumbling every which way. Mike felt weird. So weird, but not in a bad way just…..different. 

So Will was gay. Mike had had never met another gay person in his entire life. Well, there was Mr. Clarke, who had been the subject of some town gossip a while ago, but then he went and got himself a girlfriend so…. 

Suddenly Mike remembered something Will said a few minutes ago. “Wait what do you mean, there are some who like both?”

***************

It was the first time since they’d started this conversation that he’d seen Will look genuinely uncomfortable, and it left Mike wondering what he’d said wrong. Will had said it, right? That there were those who liked both? 

“Well, Mike, do you know what bisexuality is?”

Mike blinked. He’d never heard that word before. At least he didn’t—-oh wait. His sister Nancy had said it once, a long long time ago when she was discussing Bowie or Elton John or one of those flamboyant rock stars. He still wasn’t sure what it meant though and he started feeling stupider by the minute. Should he know?

“Umm, I’m not sure I know?”

“That’s ok.” Will shrugged. “It’s not like its a common word you’re gonna hear around Hawkins anyways. And some people, well they don’t seem to think it’s a real thing anyways but I think that’s bullshit.”

“Some people don’t think bisexuality is real?” Mike was even more lost than before. 

“Yep. Which is ridiculous, to discriminate and shit like that when you’re getting discriminated against as well….but some people I know think bisexual people just can’t make up their minds. Or something like that.”

“Can’t make up their minds on what?”

“Shit, Sorry. Bisexuality means you like both guys and girls that way.” Will said plainly.

This was the first time Mike had heard anything like this in his life. It sounded…. not crazy but, hard to believe? That someone could like girls and guys? That way? That someone would want to kiss both? Date both? Do….other things with both? That was a thing? Like a real thing that existed for people? The revelation made him feel strange. Not in a bad way but just, strange. He couldn’t explain it.

“Soo like, someone is half gay and half straight?”

“I don’t think it works that way Mike.” Will frowned. “But then again I’m not bisexual, so I’m not the one to ask. I’ve never liked girls that way. Ick.” He shuddered and the two laughed, releasing some of the tension between them. “But there’s a senior at my school, his name is David and he’s an amazing artist and really handsome and he’s bisexual and one day he told me it’s like, it doesn’t matter if it’s a guy or a girl, if he likes someone he just likes someone. He’s dated both guys and girls, and all that matters is if they click and he finds them attractive. Some of his friends think he’s being selfish,” Will rolled his eyes. “But David just smiles and says he had double the fish in the pond to choose from. He’s pretty cool.”

It is so much information for Mike to take in that he didn’t know where to start. His head was swimming in it and he suddenly felt antsy as a rush of adrenaline hit him and his fingers struggled not to tremble. He felt exposed in a way that he couldn’t explain, and woozy like the time he had to give a speech in front of the whole school on Columbus Day in the fifth grade and forgot the names of the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria and all his classmates laughed and pointed. 

“Oh wow that’s….I didn’t know that was a thing.” He mumbled as he struggled to unzip his sleeping bag. The zipper was caught on a long blue thread and after a few increasingly violent yanks, it unzipped with a screech. 

“Mike…” Will said, his voice soft, sensing how flustered he was. 

Why was he flustered though? Mike couldn’t fathom. Why should this bisexuality thing make him feel this way? Weird. Jittery. The gay stuff, that hadn’t made him feel weird. He accepted Will, it was all fine. It didn’t make any sense. He was hot around the collar of his t shirt and his cheeks were burning. 

“Are you ok Mike, you look strange?”

Mike crawled into his sleeping back, and plumped up his pillow before falling back into it with a thump. “I’m fine.” He said, staring at the ceiling and feeling anything but fine. 

“Okay…” Will replied, but he didn’t sound convinced. The air was now suffocating with the same tension that had returned, but tenfold, and Will didn’t seem keen on pushing the matter. 

“I’m just tired is all. Maybe we should just go to bed. It’s been a long day. We can finish talking about this later.”

“Sure.” 

Mike heard Will get up and turn off the light; the room was bathed in darkness and there was shuffling noises, a zipper unzipped, and Will climbed into his bag. 

The basement was quiet, only the sound of their breathing and the water heater humming in the far corner. 

“So David is handsome eh?” Mike asked, not sure why he was even bringing it up.

Will shifted slightly. “Yea I mean, he’s objectively good looking. Anyone would think so. He kinda looks like a younger blonder Rick Springfield.

“I see. Did you two….”

“No. Oh god no, I mean he’s handsome but he’s not my type. Definitely not my type.”

“What’s your type?” Mike cringed as soon as the words left his mouth. Why did he ask that? Why did he care? He wasn’t sure, but somehow the answer seemed very important.

There was silence for a few moments before Will answered. Mike could hear the blush of embarrassment in his voice. “Umm, I like brunettes. Tall ones. Skinny too. Smart. Loyal. Brave.” Will cleared his throat. “A little nerdy. The type to like to play Dungeons and Dragons and arcade games and stuff like that. Brown eyes…..”

Will trailed off and Mike felt his body electrify. He had no idea what the hell was going on, but it felt so right. He had the perfect mix of nerves and butterflies that he’d felt right before he’d kissed El the first time, but it was much more powerful…. did this mean? Did he? Did Will mean to say what he’s just said and ….. what was happening? 

“Mike?” Will said, breaking up Mike’s internal meltdown. “Mike I’m umm…..you should probably ignore that I ummm…..that was…..shit I shouldn’t have said any of that……”

Mike flipped around in his sleeping bag until he was laying on his side and facing Will. There was a beam of light coming in through the tiny window in the corner, and Mike could make out the contours of Will’s face. He was looking right at him, and he looked incredibly pained. 

“Will….” Mike cut him off, and his hand reached out into the darkness, searching. “How, how do you know if you’re…..bisexual? Did David tell you that too?”

Will sucked in a breath and his eyes momentarily grew larger before his face settled into something more controlled. Mike could hear his own breathing start to pick up. 

“No, no he didn’t say. But I, umm, I know how I knew. That I was different……”

“Yeah? How did you know?”

“Umm well, there was, there was a boy that I couldn’t stop thinking about. I liked him a whole lot. A lot more than anyone I have ever met. He made me feel happy and dizzy like the tilt o’whirl at the county fair. He made me feel like no one else has ever made me feel. Safe and valued and protected.”

“Liked?”

“Excuse me?”

“You liked him?” Mike’s hand slowly kept searching in the darkness, creeping slowly towards its target. “You don’t like him anymore?”

“Mike….” Will’s voice was a warning. It was stern, but there was an underlying shakiness that was audible. He was just as rattled as Mike was. 

“Do you still like him?” Mike asked as his hand finally found Will’s in the dark and slid into it, lacing their fingers together. Finally, all at once everything seemed to click. Everything suddenly made sense. Mike’s stomach swooped and it was the scariest, but the best feeling he had ever felt. It was the first drop of a roller coaster. It was bliss.

He liked Will. He liked Will in that way. Was he bisexual? He wasn’t sure, but until this night he didn’t know he’d even had the option. He didn’t know there was a term to express the way he had felt all these years but did his best to ignore. The way El made him feel, but the way, Will made him feel too. It was the same. The same, but different. But it existed, and he was facing it for the first time. 

There was an audible gulp and Will squeezed his hand back.

“Yea I do. I never stopped. It’s always been him—-you. It’s always been you Mike.”

******************

“It’s always been me?” Mike asked, shuffling closer, and not breaking the hold of Will’s hand. 

“Yes.” Will said, his voice cracking in a way that hadn’t happened since they’d hit puberty and their voices began to change. 

Mike sat up slowly, pulling Will along with him, and soon they were face to face, holding hands and staring at each other. Mike had no idea what happened next. What he was supposed to do, or say, or how he was supposed to act. 

All he could think about was how much he wanted to kiss his best friend. 

“I think…..I think it’s always been you too.” Mike smiled. “I just didn’t know it.”

“What about El?”

“What about her?”

“You two aren’t boyfriend and girlfriend?”

“No, apparently all this time she didn’t even think we were dating.” Mike laughed. “And when I wasn’t even really upset by that, is when I knew that we were just friends and that was alright with me. We’re probably better off as friends anyways. When we were together it was a mess most of the time.”

Will laughed and scooted even closer. His eyes flicked down to Mike’s lips and back up again “Yeah, you two sure were filled with drama huh?”

“Mmhmm, plus I don’t think she even understands the concept of long distance relationships so…”

Will frowned. “Yea, I can’t imagine they are easy.”

“No, but I think if you really love the person, and you’ve known them since you were five, then the odds of it working out are probably a bit higher.” Mike smiled a crooked smile, seeing how gobsmacked Will looked in return. “That is, if they even wanted to...you know…..I mean it won’t be easy but……”

“Lo—-love?”

“Of course. Of course Will. I’ve loved you as a friend since the first day I saw you on the playground, and now I know that it’s changed into a different kind of love. It’s been a different kind of love for a long time. I just didn’t know.”

“Oh!”

Mike slipped his hand out of Will’s and tentatively placed it on his shoulder. He had no idea what he was doing, but he figured kissing a boy couldn’t be much different than kissing a girl, and boy oh boy did he want to kiss Will. “Can I?” He asked, leaning in until they were a breath apart. 

“I—I love you too Mike!” Will’s voice was thick with emotion and Mike smiled as he leaned in to touch his lips to his best friends. 

They were soft, and warm, and as Will began to kiss him back, Mike had to touch the carpet with his free hand to make sure they both hadn’t floated away. 

When they both came up for air a few minutes later, Mike rested his forehead on Will’s chest. 

“You don’t think I’m selfish do you? For liking both?”

Will’s arms slid around his back and held him close. “No, I think you’re perfect.”

“I’m glad you came to visit. Really glad. We can’t go another year without seeing each other ok? Especially now that you’re my boyfriend…”

“Boyfriend?”

Was Mike being too presumptuous? He’d felt so happy, so content, he’d just assumed … “If you want to be?”

“Yes! Yes, I do. I really do.”

“I know we have a few more days together but promise me you’ll come back as soon as possible?”

“Promise. And you can come up and visit me too? I think you would really love it. Promise you will?”

“I promise. I’ll blackmail Nancy if I have too.”

Will laughed. “What?”

“Yea. I’ll blackmail her into driving me. I know where her diary is. I’ve seen her birth control. I have my ways.”

Will giggled. “I love you Mike.”

“I love you Will.”

************************


End file.
